1. 1 UNDP Support to Applying Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) regionHenrieta MartonakovaUNDP Regional Centre for Europe and the CIS7th Ministerial Conference ‘Environment 4 Europe’Astana, 21-23 September 2011

2. Outline What is SEA? SEA projects Findings and lessons learned from SEA interventions 2

4. Link between SEA and planning process 4

5. 5 SEA projects : SEA of the Bakhchisaraysky District Development Strategy, AR Crimea, Ukraine SEA capacity development in Azerbaijan Belarus

7. Increased air pollution from stationary sources;

8. Decreased rivers’ water quality due to agriculture and household waste discharge;

9. Continuous destruction of the coast-protecting lineKey sectors: waste management, tourism, water management, agriculture; SDW landfill in the town of Bakhchisaray Damaged coast-protecting structures near the village of Beregovoy

11. The very first SEA application in Crimea!

12. On-going process of local strategic planning improvement

13. Leadership and support of the Crimea Ministry of Economy

15. Budget: app. 46,000 USD

16. SEA integrated after strategic development priorities and vision identified

17. Capacity development element needed

18. Active involvement of district authority / planners

19. Conducted by the Working Group on Water and Environment and local expert group8

20. Capacity Development and Public Participation 9 SEA scoping in working groups, SEA training, Bakhchisaray, 24-25 June, 2009

21. Results Over 600 people aware of and involved in the strategic planning process, including SEA, via public hearings and expert meetings; 42 specialists trained in SEA and 54 specialists obtained practical experience in SEA application; SEA fully integrated in planning process; 80% of SEA recommendations reflected in the final Sustainable Development Strategy for Bakhchisaraysky District Environment integrated in the strategies of 3 other districts National conference on Crimea strategic planning calls for applying SEA to become automatically part of local planning; 10

22. Environmental impact mitigation measures recommended Tighter environmental quality control; System of alternative proposals for different industries, e.g. organic farming for individual farmers; Tighter control over natural, especially plant, resources to prevent destruction of juniper groves and other protected species; Stroyindustria Complex to consider using natural gas energy or switching to the non-clinker cement production technology http://www.vashdom.ru/articles/akpr_29.htm EIA of every investment project; Inhabitants get better access to environmental information. 11

23. SEA capacity development in Azerbaijan:key interventions Country analysis of “National Environmental Assessment System and Potential for Application of SEA” Written recommendations for development of the country SEA legal framework; The National Guidance for SEA practitioners; National SEA Capacity Development Strategy SEA training, workshops and study tour 12

24. SEA capacity development in Azerbaijan: Results Around 50 people from around 15 ministries and agencies, state companies, CSOs and donors, have been introduced and trained in SEA Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources owns procedural and technical base and knowledge to move forward with accessing to the UNECE SEA Protocol and creating SEA legal system SEA taken up by the State Committee of Urban Planning and Architecture and the World Bank in elaboration of the Absheron Peninsula Development Strategy and Master Plan 13

25. “SEA and environmental conventions implementation in Belarus” Key partner: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection of Republic of Belarus Duration: end 2008 – end 2010 Donor: European Commission and UNDP Key interventions: 22 local specialists enhanced their capacity in SEA 2 pilot SEAs carried out: of the regional plan and of the National Programme of Inland Waterways and Maritime Transport Development. Pilot environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, in cooperation with Lithuania 14

26. Findings and lessons learned from UNDP SEA projects Driving force: international experience, donors, UNECE SEA Protocol (ARM as the only Party up to date) and the EC SEA Directive (Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine); Some SEA provisions in current SEE / OVOS system and legislation; SEA effectiveness depends on political will and interest and on so called government ‘champions’ Wring perception SEA is being done within SEE/OVOS process; SEA seen as a threat to current SEE/OVOS system – reluctance of environmental authorities; 15

27. Findings and lessons learned from UNDP SEA projects – cont. SEA pilot projects – most effective capacity development activity; SEA effectiveness depends on level of government ownership and on transparency, openness and structure of planning process; Public participation more effective at sub-national level planning; Many countries prefer to build SEA capacity prior ratifying SEA Protocol 16

28. SEA / EIA 2011, Ostrava 17 Thank you! henrieta.martonakova@undp.org http://live.unece.org/env/sea/eecca_capacity.html http://europeandcis.undp.org/